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Ireland’s Balance of Payments showed a current account surplus of €6.6bn in Quarter 1 (Q1) 2025 (See Table 1.3).
Merchandise exports were €113.1bn in Q1 2025, an increase of €37.6bn compared with Q1 2024. Merchandise imports were €38.9bn in Q1 2025 up €2.1bn compared with the same period in 2024.
Service exports at €115.3bn, grew by €10.2bn compared with Q1 2024. Service imports at €115.7bn were up €19.9bn over the same period in 2024.
The trade balance at €73.8bn, which captures all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, increased by €25.7bn in Q1 2025 over the same period in 2024.
The overall income balance for Q1 2025 was -€67.2bn, a fall of €34.0bn compared with the same period in 2024.
Direct investment into Ireland increased by €15.9bn in Q1 2025 and direct investment abroad rose by €13.5bn in the quarter (see table 1.4).
The stock of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) assets held in Ireland by foreign investors grew by €66.0 billion in Q4 2024 to €1,126.6 billion. FDI assets held abroad by Irish investors were up by €147.5 billion in the quarter to €1,326 billion (See Table 7.2).
The stock of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) assets held in Ireland by foreign investors decreased by €5.2bn in Q1 2025 to €1,121.4bn. FDI assets held abroad by Irish investors were down by €141.7bn in the quarter to €1,184.8bn (See Table 7.2).
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (05 June 2025) published the International Accounts results for Quarter 1 (Q1) 2025.
Commenting on the release, Chris Sibley, Assistant Director General with responsibility for Economic Statistics said:
"In the International Accounts, the Current Account of the Balance of Payments recorded a surplus of €6.6 billion in flows with the rest of the world in Q1 2025, a decrease of €8.3 billion compared with the surplus of €14.9 billion recorded in Q1 2024. The Merchandise balance improved by €35.4 billion in Q1 2025 compared with the same quarter in 2024 while the Services balance decreased by €9.7 billion. Net outflows of multinational profits were €63.0 billion in the quarter, a rise of €34.2 billion on the net outflows recorded in Q1 2024 (which dis-improves the Current Account balance).
Today’s International Accounts release includes a table of Current Account transactions with the UK. The results show a surplus of €2.6 billion for Trade in Goods & Services with the UK in Q1 2025, up €0.3 billion on the Q1 2024 trade balance. The trade surplus in Q1 2025 was offset by a deficit of €8.1 billion for net income flows, giving an overall Current Account deficit with the UK of €5.5 billion in the quarter.”
More commentary is available in the Press Release also issued today Press Statement. See also Quarterly National Accounts results for Q1 2025 also published today.